The First Thing You Know

I had a story recounted to me not too long ago, and it was too good not to pass on. You may have heard this (or a variant of it), but it's always good for a chuckle.

A few years back, one of the local radio stations here in Denver had a "daily question." This was basically just some kind of trivia question or riddle they would ask, and listeners had to call in and answer the question. If you called in with the right answer, you won a prize.

Well, one day, the station gave their daily question, and it was this: "What's the first thing you know?" Very profound, and very unlike their usual questions, but definitely worth a stab. Many folks called in, with all sorts of answers, ranging from "how to breathe" to "your mother's voice" to "who God is". Some answers were comical, some were as profound as the question itself seemed to be. And all were equally wrong.

The day wore on, and still no one had the correct answer. This was quite unusual, as usually someone had called in with the answer within an hour of the presentation of the question (this contest WAS designed and placed for the morning drive, after all). But rush hour became late morning, and late morning became early afternoon, then mid-afternoon...and still no one could answer the question. And all the while, callers got fewer and fewer, as every answer was brutally shot down. The station has seemingly come up with an unanswerable riddle.

Finally, around 3:30, someone called in, believing they had the correct answer. The afternoon DJ got very excited; he had NEVER gotten to accept answers for the daily question before (since the question was always answered in the morning). By the time he got in to the studio, not many folks were even trying. He had been asking the question between songs in an attempt to encourage others to call in with answers. So now he had this one call, and he asked the question to the listener again, "What's the first thing you know?" After a brief pause, very slowly and tentatively, the listener said, "Ol' Jed's a millionaire?"

Finally, someone had the right answer.

Enjoy your day, and thanks for reading along.